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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25337587">we fell in love in october</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, But by the antagonist, Desi James Potter, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hogwarts, M/M, MLM fetishization, Main focus on Remus and Sirius though, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Muslim!James, Pakistani!James, Secret Relationship, desi!james, sixth year, wolfstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:34:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25337587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hold on, hold on…” Sirius swallowed, clamping his lips together in apparent thought, then grabbed Remus by his arms and shoved him into the wall.<br/>“What the actual hell are you doing?” Remus had come off his rant and was shouting a bit now, eyes wide, arms flailing slightly. Some students passing by had begun to stare.<br/>“Look. Mate. I need you to kiss me.”<br/>“Wait, wait, wait…”<br/>But Sirius had already leaned forward, hands gripping elbows as their mouths met, standing on his toes to get a better angle.<br/>(Not a songfic, the title just fits)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape/His hand, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. New Beginnings - September 3rd</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A/N: Hello! This is my first ship fic, and also my first Wolfstar fic. I will be so pleased to receive any and all feedback. My tumblr is https://www.dragonfliies.tumblr.com , and I will be adding a new chapter every time I reach 10 more followers (I reserve the right to change this increment as time goes on). This should allow for a pretty reasonable update schedule. </p><p>Thanks so much to my beta readers:<br/>Mars (Tumblr: scar-angst-and-firebending, AO3: the_quantum_thing)<br/>Fiona (Tumblr: fiona4269)<br/>Muna (Tumblr: thxnderclouds)<br/>Ty (N/A)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It seems a little weird that only first years can take flying lessons, doesn’t it?” Peter exhaled angrily, his cheeks splotchy and red. “After that, you have to actually be good enough to make it on the team.”</p><p>“You can still use the pitch when it’s not specifically reserved though, can’t you?” said Remus, only half paying attention to the conversation, scanning the halls for the missing half of their party. The two had just made their way from Muggle Studies - Sirius and James were running late (as usual) and probably chatting up some girls (also as usual).</p><p>“Yeah, but you look like an idiot.”</p><p>“With the frequency you lot break the rules, I’m sure Sirius and James can find you a way around that, one that isn’t horribly mortifying for you.” </p><p>Peter rubbed at his face aggressively. “I just- like. <em> God. </em>I’d love to be on the team, but no one wants to watch some chubby little git up there.”</p><p>“You’re not -” </p><p> </p><p>A pair of hands grabbed Remus by the sleeves of his jumper, roughly pulling him across the hall and into an alcove, his messenger bag dropping, books scattering across the floor. His head swam as he tried to orient himself once again, chest beating rapidly, until a familiar voice from just below him said, “Shit. Sorry if I stretched out your hoodie.”</p><p>His eyes flicked down to find a short, pale boy with black hair that had, somehow, already become puffed up. Some instinct compelled him to smooth it down, even as he glared at the other teenager. “<em> Sirius. </em>Goddamn. You can’t just kidnap me.”</p><p>The shorter boy stared up at him for a minute, eyes still wide with panic as they both breathed heavily. Remus was suddenly incredibly conscious of their close proximity to each other. “Right. Sorry. But I really need - ”</p><p>“Also, this isn’t a hoodie. It’s clearly a school-mandated jumper. Just because you don’t follow the uniform doesn’t mean no one else does. <em>Also, </em>where the hell is James?”</p><p>“Hold on, hold on…” Sirius swallowed, clamping his lips together in apparent thought, then grabbed Remus by his arms and shoved him into the wall. </p><p>“What the actual hell are you doing?” Remus had come off his rant and was shouting a bit now, eyes wide, arms flailing slightly. Some students passing by had begun to stare. </p><p>“Look. Mate. I need you to kiss me.”</p><p>“Wait, wait, wait…” </p><p>But Sirius had already leaned forward, hands gripping elbows as their mouths met, standing on his toes to get a better angle. With a jolt, Remus realized Sirius had begun to <em> grin, </em>breath hot against his mouth, making his snogging rather ineffective. His chest began to ache, ever so slightly, as he pulled away so that they both could have a moment to compose themselves.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t that he thought Sirius was cute or anything. It was just that if he had to pick a boy to kiss, it would, very probably, be him. He had messy hair, and he wore leather jackets, and when he leaned against the wall with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, he looked...very good. Exceptionally fucking good.</p><p>Sirius took the opportunity to push Remus onto the small stone bench that curled against the wall. “Need a better angle,” the shorter boy muttered with a slight frown, clambering onto the bench and perching between Remus’s legs, “looks too awkward.” And then they were kissing again, and, even with their limbs all entangled, Remus found, and took, the opportunity to push his hands into the black mass of hair that sat atop Sirius’s head, who made a sort of pleased sighing noise.</p><p><em> It’s not real, </em> Remus reminded himself, <em> I’ll wake up soon and have a stern conversation with myself about how we handle such dreams. </em>He could feel his cheeks blushing redder as the seconds ticked by. Surely there had to be some end to this nonsense?</p><p>Their knees pressed against each other, somewhat awkwardly, as Sirius placed his hands firmly upon Remus’s and leaned further in to deepen the kiss.</p><p> </p><p>A small, indignant shriek sounded from around the corner, and Sirius pulled away sharply, his mouth twisted into a sort of embarrassed, lopsided smile. It was a look Remus had never seen on his friend, so he decided it must be an act for someone else’s sake - surely he hadn’t been as affected about what had just happened as Remus was.</p><p>They turned in unison to see Mary fucking MacDonald there, in the middle of the hallway, which was beginning to empty out slightly, as most students had made it to the Great Hall for lunch at this point, with a shocked sort of look on her face. “I’m so sorry, Sirius! I didn’t realize you two were in a relationship, or I wouldn’t have tried to kiss you after class. I thought...I don’t know, I thought we were flirting and I never would have done that if I had known!” She seemed to be on the verge of tears, and was flapping her arms about.</p><p>It took all Remus had not to roll his eyes at her. It wasn’t as though Sirius didn’t do this with literally <em> every </em>girl that had ever crossed his path - make weird faces at her in class that blurred the line between flirtatiousness and just being friendly until she broke and finally tried to make a move herself after he said something particularly dirty or raised his eyebrows at her one too many times as she squirmed about in her seat.</p><p>“It’s alright, love,” said Sirius with a concerned look on his face, not missing the blush that spread across her face. This time Remus actually <em> did </em>roll his eyes. It was all acting with this ponce. If it wasn’t for James, he would never have become remotely close with that dick. Mary walked over to the pair and Sirius enveloped her in a hug, rubbing her back and cooing softly that it was okay, and not to be worried, and that he wasn’t upset at her.</p><p> </p><p>Remus gritted his teeth, pushed himself off of the bench, grabbed his bag from Peter, who was standing against the corridor wall, looking completely shellshocked, and headed off to lunch without another word. Right before he entered the Great Hall, he took a moment to reevaluate his options. James would be whining about Lily again. Peter would act like he cared, then start off on his own rather trivial problems. Sirius would ignore everyone else’s conversation and start the flirt process again with a new girl. It was the same fucking scene every day. So goddamn self-destructive, all of them. </p><p>He clutched his messenger bag closer to his chest and made his way, not towards the Great Hall, but towards the Whomping Willow. Sitting a fair distance away from its swinging branches, he took his robe, usually so clean and pristine, out of his backpack, and set it upon the grass. He pulled a book out of his bag, trying to focus on the map of Hogwarts inside it. Peter had finished drawing the Marauders’ Map when they were in third year, so it could certainly use an update. His drawing skills had improved some, and they had found significantly more pathways since then as well. As much as he tried to avoid the topic, though, he couldn’t help thinking about the fact that he had just made out with Sirius, and, according to the fact that he was fucking <em> blushing </em>over it, enjoyed it. To some extent. Maybe it was purely sexual attraction.</p><p>Okay, so maybe he got off a bit on people who indulged in bad habits and broke the rules with a wicked grin on their faces. It didn’t mean he was in love with Sirius. It also didn’t mean he was ready to admit that he liked boys in general to the whole school, but it seemed that that choice had been effectively taken away from him.</p><p>He sighed, shutting the book and slamming it back down onto the small robe-blanket he’d created, craning his head up towards the sky as the Whomping Willow’s branches stretched and whirled idly about. It didn’t matter how he felt. Obviously he was just another piece in Sirius’s game of fucking chess. Obviously it didn’t actually-</p><p> </p><p>“Where the fuck were you?”</p><p>Remus jolted up again, his limbs flailing out and crashing into Sirius’s. <em> Godric, </em>that boy needed to break that habit of his of appearing out of nowhere. “Th-sh-what the hell?” Remus groaned out, resting his head back on his robe. </p><p>Sirius leaned over him. “Sorry. You okay?” He grinned again, in the same way he had before. <em> Shit. </em>Remus made a valiant attempt to school his features. “We just missed you at lunch, so I figured there was something going on.”</p><p>“Actually, yeah. I have some fucking questions.” </p><p>“Sit up and ask me them, then, you prick.” </p><p>Remus sat up, trying his hardest not to blush or stutter around his words. “Why did you just - start snogging me? Over anyone else? You barely even asked first.”</p><p>Sirius shrugged. “Look, I had to act quickly. Girls’ll leave you alone if they think you’re gay.”</p><p>“What happens when you happen to want one?” When Remus got no response, he continued, “And what does that mean for me? And, also, you led her on.”</p><p>Pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and furrowing his brows, Sirius ground out indignantly, “I do <em> not </em>lead people on, let alone Mary MacDonald.”</p><p>Remus grabbed the cigarette. “Stop fucking smoking, you tosser. Shut up and listen to me. If I happened to like boys, that doesn’t mean I want the whole school knowing at once. Gossip spreads like wildfire in this shithole.”</p><p>“So they’ll leave me alone.”</p><p>“And they’ll spit in my face at an even more alarming rate than before.”</p><p>“Spit back.”</p><p>“Instigator.”</p><p>“Pussy.”</p><p> </p><p>Remus toed his shoe against a patch of grass, staring down at the wildflowers that populated the surrounding area. “It’s easy for you, you’ve got no parents breathing down your shoulder or anything -”</p><p>“Because they fucking kicked me out of the house?” There was an audible change in Sirius’s tone, and he reached for the cigarette again. “Give it back."</p><p>“No - It's been rough, but you still can't smoke.”</p><p>“Come on, I already had to nick some back from McGonagall.”</p><p>“Mate, just because you think it’s cute to girls when you smoke doesn’t mean it’s not a self-destructive behavior.” Remus tapped the cigarette with his wand, and it vanished, earning an exasperated, overdramatic sigh from Sirius. </p><p> </p><p>“Look, I just...we’ve already convinced everyone we’re gay, right?”</p><p>“Have we?” asked Remus dubiously. “You don’t look at me like you’re interested in that way or anything.”</p><p>Sirius swallowed, and a look flashed across his face that Remus couldn’t quite interpret. “I...can be a better actor. The point is, I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to fuck around with any girls this year.”</p><p>“But they keep bugging you.” Remus quirked an eyebrow at Sirius, who squirmed uncomfortably and glanced down. “Look, mate, it’s going to take some time for them to figure it out. Doesn’t mean we have to go around pretending we’re dating."</p><p>Sirius looked crestfallen at this, which triggered some sort of baser response in Remus, who hastily tried to mend the situation by saying, “We could, though. If it would make you more comfortable.”</p><p>The shorter boy grinned. “We could practice so the act’s more believable.”</p><p>“Um, ah, or we could get to class,” stammered out Remus, beginning to realize just how late it was. Good. He wasn’t sure if his heart could take any more of this bullshit.</p><p>“Shit, you’re right.” </p><p>As Remus stuffed his books back into his bag, Sirius pulled the robe from the ground, threw it lazily around his own shoulders, and began to run back off towards the castle with a lopsided smile thrown back towards Remus.</p><p><em> I’m in for something, </em>thought the taller boy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Growing Older - September 4th</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thanks so much to my beta readers:<br/>Muna (thxnderclouds and artsyendeavors on Tumblr) and Ty (N/A) helped with this chapter.<br/>A special shoutout to another beta reader Ver (the_quantum_thing on AO3 and scar-angst-and-firebending) for telling her followers to follow me, causing me to gain 5 followers in a day. Thanks for all the support! Excited for chapter 3 already.<br/>Another very special shoutout to Muna for helping me to write James as a Desi and Muslim character, and for allowing and helping me learn about Islam. She helped me to create a playlist for this fic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2obMGNqvAt9O7G9wKyglK9?si=n-EZS2LrRHC0xkB2NGLeYg<br/>Thanks again to all my readers. Your comments mean so much to me!!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TRIGGER WARNING: Use of the f-slur as an insult (f*g).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Dude, stop with the quill-chewing,” reprimanded James, elbowing Sirius. “Remember what happened to your last one? I bought you an expensive one this time so you </span>
  <em>
    <span>wouldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>do this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sirius didn’t blush easily, and he didn’t now, but he screwed up his face and abashedly removed the pheasant-feather quill from between his lips, glancing up to realize that Binns had long since moved on from his topic of Hogwarts architecture and was now lecturing at an even more rapid pace about the construction of the Hogwarts express. At some point, he must have tuned the old man out. Glancing over at Remus, who had already filled ten inches of parchment in the twenty minutes they’d been in class, even with his tiny, cramped handwriting, he rolled his eyes, gesturing towards the professor at the front of the room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus looked up and glared at him, the hint of a smile gracing his lips. “Shut up,” he muttered, “it’s too early in the year for you lot to distract me from work.” Secretly, he thanked James - he was having a bit of trouble keeping his thoughts directed purely on academia and historical studies when fucking Sirius had that quill between his lips. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>bloody unfair. There was this adorable boy with messy hair and a wicked grin who he </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally lived with, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the only interest he took in Remus was a literal fake relationship to ward off the crowds of girls that swarmed him at all times.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I have a look at your notes later, Moony?” asked Peter, his tone reminiscent of a whine. “He’s talking too fast. I can’t write fast </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>neat.” He shoved his parchment towards Remus. Apparently he had spent the majority of the class working on writing his name and the topic of today’s class at the top of his scroll. It did look rather nice, but it was certainly not something to waste time in class that could be used far more efficiently for studying. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus looked pointedly at the header then back up at Peter, who blushed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look,” said the sandy-haired boy, rather indignantly, “I’m trying to get ahead in my classes this year and I figured having organised notes, at least, was a good first start.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Organise them after class, you prat,” replied James from across the table, rolling his eyes. Professor Binns, whom Remus had never known to pay attention to his students for </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>of the years he had been at Hogwarts, had large desks set up in his room with clusters of chairs around them, and the Marauders had jumped at the first chance they got to sit together, just as they did every year. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The trees outside the window had just begun to turn a pleasant shade of orange-red, and it was clear fall was on its way, although it was only the first week of September. This was their sixth year at Hogwarts, and Remus knew, because his parents had told him thousands of times, that time would go more quickly than he thought it would, that he should savour every small interaction, and not to stress about N.E.W.T.S. </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>much. “To be perfectly candid,” his father Lyall had said, with the family dog snoozing away in his lap, “I think even if you didn’t study you’d manage a near-perfect score.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s studying, though,” Hope Lupin had retorted with a smirk on her face, poised slightly more attentively on the sofa next to her husband. “I’m not letting him take any chances.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I only meant that he shouldn’t stress over it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His mother had looked over his father’s shoulder at him, then, and, scooping up the dog, had snuggled further into the overstuffed, patched-up couch with a slight roll of her eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Time will go more quickly than you think it will.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus sat back in his seat, fixing his gaze upon each member of their small table in turn. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This cannot last forever</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>secondary school is not the world. We will grow up. Although we do not speak of it, there is a war on the horizon.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He knew what side Sirius would be on - after all, he left his parents’ house for a reason, didn’t he? And if Sirius made his decision, so would James, who would never leave his adoptive brother behind in a time like this. (Besides, Lily’s a muggleborn.) Remus fell in with the rest of them by belief, but he was unsure where Peter stood. It is a topic they had not dared to broach at this point - Remus was the half-blood of the group, and he knew that no matter how easily they spoke about most other things, blood status had never been an exceptionally comfortable topic for the group, except when Snape went and spouted some microaggressive pureness shit. And besides James’s massive crush on Lily and Peter’s even more massive crushes on literally every other girl he came across, sexuality wasn’t really something they explicitly talked about, either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At some point that year, Remus knew, the floodgates would break, and their collective silence on these topics would end. He tried to brush his thoughts aside and focus on the lecture, but James poked him in the side. “So,” he said with a smirk, “you and Sirius?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Schooling his expression and tamping down the blush that threatened to grace his features, Remus turned to the boy sitting directly to his right and said in the most neutral tone he could muster, “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Turning his attention back to his paper, he began to take down notes at a speed that nearly matched Binns’s - not an easy feat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>James rolled his eyes, and took Remus’s quill from his hand. “I heard about what happened yesterday, you know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Dude. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Peter needs these notes later.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tough luck. You’d better fess up before I have to leave for Dhuhr.” James had been especially tired, and could be irritated more easily these days. It made </span>
  <em>
    <span>sense - </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was Ramadan, which meant he wasn’t getting much sleep or food, but it also made for a more strained relationship between him and literally anyone he came into contact with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus grabbed his quill back from James, and scribbled a short explanation directly on James’s parchment - purely an act of spite, as he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>missed a good minute of possible notes and now wanted to ruin the other boy’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly reading, and then suddenly crumpling the paper, James shook in silent laughter, his head rocking dangerously over the assorted inkpots, books, and writing implements scattered over the table, earning him some annoyed glares from Lily, who was sitting at the next table over with Mary and several other of her friends. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Snap out of it, mate.” Sirius, who had been half-listening to the conversation, kicked James under the table. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ow.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Well, it seems like a good plan, but I don’t understand why Sirius couldn’t have started dating a girl. Would have saved both your reputations.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I mean, you guys really want to go around acting like a couple of fags so all the girls Sirius flirts with will leave him alone?” asked Peter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sirius’s quill broke cleanly in half.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seriously, just pick a girl and actually commit to her, man. I promise you literally any girl in this classroom would have you,” Peter continued, not looking up from his parchment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You okay there, Pads?” James looked up at him. “Also, no, Lily wouldn’t have you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. Sorry. Just gripped my quill a bit too tightly,” Sirius replied, grinning slightly at the obvious innuendo. “Look, maybe this isn’t such a good idea -”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve already committed to it,” said Remus, “no point in stopping now.” He elbowed James. “Dude, Lily’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>pissed.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>James rolled his sleeves up, chanced a glance at the front of the room to see if Binns would notice any obvious movements, and pushed his chair back, scooting it towards Lily with a loud ruckus of scraping and screeching against the floor. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It was a miracle that all this shit is happening in Binns’s class, </span>
  </em>
  <span>thought Remus. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That man notices </span>
  </em>
  <span>literally </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quiet murmurs of a conversation could be heard from the table text to them - Remus heard “Who are you to tell other people who I would or wouldn’t choose?” and “Lils, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sirius</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey - um, have you got an extra quill?” Sirius asked quietly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus looked up. The question was obviously pointed towards him. “No, I don’t have extras yet, the mail order hasn’t come in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Padfoot! I have one,” piped up Peter, already pulling one out of his bag and holding it across the table. He had a knee halfway up on its top, and Remus instinctively held the piece of furniture steady to keep him safe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I can manage,” said Sirius coldly, staring directly at Peter. The taller boy literally wilted back into his seat, curling his legs back into his chest and dejectedly scribbling some meaningless symbols and lines on his parchment instead of actually taking notes - Remus wouldn’t be surprised if his were the only comprehensible ones by the end of class.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Remus stretched slightly, allowing himself a small glance outside the windows. Lubanah Biswas was jogging slightly towards the main building just in time for Dhuhr - apparently she had been in Care of Magical Creatures. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Get James,” he said to Sirius, gesturing to the girl outside the window.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sirius turned around in his seat, tugging on James’s sleeve: “Prayer time, mate.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah. Sorry,” said James, seemingly to no one in particular. He pushed his chair back and grabbed his cloak and bag. “Professor Binns, I have prayer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ghostly man at the front of the room interrupted himself to flash a reassuring smile at James and shoo him gently out of the room with a “May Jesus’s love be with you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sirius winced. “He’s a little confused, but he’s got the spirit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus took the chance to slide into James’s old chair, allowing him to be closer to the short end of the table Sirius was at. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The darker-haired boy raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p><span>“Why are you so pissed at Peter?”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>Sirius sighed. “</span><em><span>Muffliato</span></em><span>. He said ‘fags’ like it was nothing.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the problem with that? A shitton of people say that, even in the Muggle world, and they’re even more tolerant.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A shitton of people say - you know, the other word for Muggleborn. Doesn’t mean it’s right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think he meant anything by it. You think he hates gay people or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Guys,” said Peter, “why am I being left out of this conversation </span>
  <em>
    <span>about me</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Also, where the fuck did you learn that spell?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Snivellus keeps some weird fucking diary, nicked it from his bag back in June and read it over the summer,” Sirius said, breaking the charm. Recasting it, he continued, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter whether he hates gay people or not. He shouldn’t have said it.” Sirius turned his attention back to Professor Binns momentarily, then slammed a hand back down on the stained wooden table, turning back to Remus indignantly. “And why are you defending him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re barely into the first month of school. Are we already all going to get into some huge argument that will end with passive-aggressive Howlers and sitting at different ends of the Gryffindor table again? Because I think that would be a stupid thing to do, especially because we don’t have enough time on our hands to be worrying about trivial things like this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s the thing, Moony, it’s not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>trivial thing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He said a fucking slur.”</span>
</p>
<p><span>“Okay, what am I supposed to do about it?”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>Sirius looked at him exhaustedly. “You started this conversation. Didn’t you have some weird plan in mind?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I mean, I was going to figure it out after I had an actual talk with you instead of whatever the hell this is. And you’re the one who wouldn’t take his quill when we all know you needed it. Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>have to let not only James copy my notes, because he had to go pray, but also Peter, because his dumb ass can’t focus on something besides loop-de-loopy cursive, but also </span>
  <em>
    <span>you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>because you wouldn’t just take the fucking quill.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t take quills from intolerant people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Again, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>think he hates gay people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah? Well, I didn’t think my parents hated Muggles all that much either, just used certain words around them, until I came home one day from our fucking Pureblood primary school study group to see them using a goddamn Unforgiveable on some random Muggle girl they’d literally kidnapped from the London Underground when her mother turned her back on her for ten minutes to go get a newspaper from the stand.” At the look on Remus’s face, Sirius winced slightly and cast his gaze down. “Look. Just - words mean things. And I don’t understand why you’re acting like it’s your place to tell me to forgive him. You’re not even queer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How the fuck do you know what I am?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sirius flicked his eyes up towards the taller boy and opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by Binns, who had finished his lecture and was now shouting for everyone to leave and travel to their next class. “Look, forget it,” said Sirius, grabbing his bags. “We can have this conversation later, but it’s still not over.” He rushed towards the door, and Remus lost him in the crowd, feeling the effects of the Muffliato shattering as they parted.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't worry, you'll see some of Snivellus next chapter. Angst on the way as well!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rising Tensions - September 8th</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much to my beta readers! Muna (Tumblr: thxnderclouds) especially helped make this chapter the best it could be, and provided me with resources and first-hand information to write an accurate Muslim!James, so a big extra thanks to her :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter shut his history textbook, two sets of notes spread out in front of him - Remus’s and his own. It had been a few days since Professor Binns’s class, and even though they were supposed to act like a couple, Remus hadn’t said many words to Sirius since their argument. </p><p><em> I mean, </em> thought Sirius to himself as he tried to push his way through Arithmancy homework while James ate Bertie Botts’ as if they were all flavored the same sort of pleasant flavour and Peter copied Remus’s notes in obnoxiously neat script, <em> it was near the full moon. He’s usually grumpier then, until you can stuff him with chocolate, the type the girls who gather in flocks around the common room always have for each other when </em> their <em> “time of the month” comes. </em></p><p>
  <em> But what if it wasn’t? What if I genuinely pissed him off?  </em>
</p><p>“What the fuck are you thinking about so loudly?” said James, interrupting Sirius’s thoughts with an irritated glare. </p><p>Peter glanced up from his work. “Everything okay?”</p><p>Sirius cast a meaningful glance towards James, whom he had spoken to about the fight on the night it had happened, hoping he’d catch his meaning.</p><p>James nodded sagely. “He just misses Remus a lot right now.”</p><p>Coughing loudly, Sirius glared down at his quill. “That wasn’t what I meant.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing wrong with missing your precious little boyfriend,” grinned Peter. “I mean, well, he’s not exactly little. Probably would fuck you straight into a wall if you gave him the chance to.”</p><p>“We’re not actually dating, you know. You don’t have to make fun of us for it,” Sirius retorted, trying his best to ignore Peter’s last comment without blushing furiously. </p><p>Okay. So maybe he wouldn’t mind it if Remus caged him in and tilted an eager mouth towards his lips, grinding his hips feverishly against Sirius’s, but he needed to pull his head out of his ass and remember that <em> this was all fake. </em>Remus had only agreed to pretend to be his boyfriend because they’d been friends for years and knew each other well enough to pull it off. Just friends. That’s it.</p><p>“It’s just a really weird plan, okay? It came out of literally nowhere. And besides, you make fun of me for the people <em> I </em>like.”</p><p>“I don’t like him! I - Look, I just want people to leave me alone. That’s the only reason we’re doing this. And what you’re doing isn’t like when I make fun of you for falling for the fifteenth person in a week. You,” Sirius said loudly, pointing his parchment at Peter meaningfully, “used a slur.”</p><p>“Godric, is <em> this </em>what you’re so upset about?” Peter threw his hands up, narrowing his eyes. It would almost be threatening if he didn’t have such a childlike face.</p><p>“Boys,” interrupted Madam Pince, appearing out of virtually nowhere with a teetering stack of books in her arms, startling all of them, “please take your argument somewhere else or lower your voices. The library is a quiet space.”</p><p>James rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go to the Quidditch stands and talk this out.”</p><p>“The Quidditch stands?” asked Peter confusedly.</p><p>“Do you know a quieter place?”</p><p> </p><p>Sirius shoved his books haphazardly into his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and reluctantly followed James and Peter out of the library. This happened every fucking month - while he got along well enough with James, and could usually stand Peter and his fickle set of emotions, talking to them when Remus was gone didn’t feel as interesting as it did when he was there. Remus introduced a certain sort of risk into every conversation - would he smile at Sirius or press his lips together and turn the other way? And Sirius liked risk. </p><p>James grinned as he stepped out onto the Quidditch pitch, then climbed the rickety wooden steps to the Gryffindor stands. Something was clearly on his mind these days, Sirius could tell. This summer had been an odd one. Since Sirius had moved in with the Potters when he was 14, he and James had spent every holiday riding bikes around the Muggle villages and brooms through the countryside, but this year, his adoptive brother had spent almost all his time in his room. His owl was almost always gone, the phone line was much busier than normal, and he ate too quickly at every meal to even have tasted the food, which meant he had been talking to <em> someone </em>. Sirius just had yet to figure out who it was, and he couldn’t very well ask him in a straightforward manner. </p><p>Sprawling out on the seats, Peter tilted his head back up towards the clouds, running his hands through his straw-coloured hair. “Look, I just don’t get why it matters so much to you what I say. You’re not even actually dating a guy. Why the fuck do you care?”</p><p>“Um, because it affects other people?” Sirius had remained standing. Usually when he was on or near the Quidditch pitch, he was completely in his element - growing up in a Pureblood household, and then with James fucking Potter, he’d always had brooms around. Today, though, the air hung heavy and cold, his eyes stinging. And there was no game going on, no players to track across the field as they spun and whirled through the air, just the reality of the situation to focus on.</p><p>“What, are you gay?” </p><p>At this, James raised his eyebrows and shot Sirius a look. Some sort of redness clouded the long-haired boy’s vision, and his voice came out louder than he had ever heard it before, save for the day he had finally walked out of his parents’ house. “Did you even listen to what I just said? There could be people around us who, spoiler alert, might not want to announce to the world that they’re gay because of the fact that you use that word like it’s nothing.”</p><p>Peter groaned. “Okay, okay, fine. I’m sorry, I won’t say it again.”</p><p>“Seriously, Peter, though,” said James with an expression on his face that reminded Sirius so much of Professor McGonagall that he had to work to fight off an entirely inappropriate grin. “It’s like saying the other name for Muggleborn.”</p><p>“Are you saying I’m a Death Eater?” </p><p>“What? No. I’m just saying you’re associating yourself with people like them by talking like that.”</p><p>Peter laughed. “As if I’d ever want that.”</p><p>“Good,” said Sirius sharply, “so fucking stop.”</p><p> </p><p>A loud thump sounded as some sort of force slammed itself into the stands, the old wood rocking slightly underneath their feet. </p><p>“Are you okay?” James shouted, practically throwing himself over the rows of benches to lean over the edge at a dark figure on the pitch below.</p><p>“I’m fucking fine,” said the figure, standing up and brushing themselves off. They glared up at the three boys, a long noise protruding from what looked like a greasy slick of black hair.</p><p>James snorted, recognizing who had crashed into the wall.</p><p>“Snivellus,” said Sirius with an air of fake cordiality, “I’m fairly certain you’re supposed to aim for the <em> goalposts, </em>not the stands. I’m also pretty sure you’re supposed to have a ball in your hand, not your own prick.”</p><p>“Shut up,” said Severus.</p><p>“I mean, seriously, you can’t score by getting up close to that hoop and shoving your own filth into it.”</p><p>“What do you reckon Madam Hooch would do, get up there and join you or shove you in a shower until your skin was bright red from all the scrubbing off?” James joined in, his previous concern for the boy completely forgotten, a wild grin on his face. </p><p>“I said shut up.”</p><p>“Seriously, why are you on the pitch?” asked Peter. “Don’t you have Muggleborns to make fun of?” </p><p>“It’s none of your business, rat.” Severus removed his cloak and slung it over his shoulder, his scrawny frame plainly evident even beneath his school uniform, tie drooping pitifully. </p><p>“What, are you trying to impress Lily because she’s fallen for another Quidditch player? It’s not going to work, mate, you can’t match natural ability,” said James, attempting to school his expression and failing.</p><p>“Who’s she fallen for?” asked Severus, his jealous expression plain for all to see before he clamped his mouth shut and furrowed his eyebrows further, casting his gaze down.</p><p>“Wait, yeah, what’s going on with that?” said Sirius.</p><p>“It’s none of your business,” James said, “but she does have a type.”</p><p>“<em> What. </em> Why have I not heard about this? What the hell?” Peter turned towards James, shrieking indignantly.</p><p>James’s expression was uncharacteristically blank. “Look, conversation’s over. Go crawling back to your band of fucking Death Eaters so you can get yourself off on Unforgiveable curses, Snivvy. Just like you wrote about in your diary.”</p><p>Severus unleashed a string of particularly foul curses at an unflinching James, then picked up his broom from the ground and stabbed it into James’s chest. “All I ask every year is that you leave me the fuck alone,” he said quietly, his face turning redder by the second. “And to stop stealing my shit.”</p><p>“Too easy,” grinned Sirius as Severus retreated from the pitch.</p><p>Peter turned to James. “What the fuck was that about?”</p><p>“I have no idea what you mean,” said James, lifting himself onto the barrier that separated the last row of stands from the pitch, and hopped down onto the grassy field, beginning to walk back alone.</p><p>Sirius looked at Peter, who shrugged and, sliding down the railing, ran after James. </p><p><em> What the fuck is going on with everyone this year? </em>asked Sirius to himself as he followed the two other boys back to the main building. </p><p> </p><p>“I have to do Asr, but I’ll see you guys soon,” said James, heading off along a different hallway than the one Sirius and Peter were walking down to head back to the library, where Peter had left his bag.</p><p>“Why is he acting weird?” asked Peter again as they entered the library.</p><p>“Dude, he has to pray. He does that <em> literally every day. </em>This isn’t anything new,” said Sirius, smiling slightly. Peter came from a place of ignorance, he knew - a Pureblood white upper middle-class family with everything he could possibly need growing up, but sometimes it was slightly endearing how innocent he was about everything. This trait of his had mostly disappeared, especially his lack of knowledge about sexual matters, through the time he had spent with the other Marauders, but it still showed up at times. Obviously, it was mostly annoying, but Sirius knew that for the most part, he meant well.</p><p>“<em> No, </em>that wasn’t what I meant. We’ve all known him the same amount of time, we know that’s normal. The way he was talking to Severus wasn’t.”</p><p>“What, teasing him? Again, this isn’t anything new. I didn’t notice anything weird about what he said.”</p><p>“He said something about Lily.”</p><p>“Did he? I can’t remember.” As they reached the table, Sirius grabbed Peter’s bag and handed it to him.</p><p>“Godric. Are you seriously fucking with me right now?”</p><p>“Yes.” Sirius grinned. “Okay, yeah, it was weird. I don’t know what Quidditch player she likes. Probably Patrick Emerson, all the girls have the hots for him. Tall, dark, handsome, smartass Ravenclaw.”</p><p>“You think that’s the type of person she would go for?”</p><p>“Mate, I don’t know, I’m not Lily.” They walked out of the library and began to head towards the Great Hall - their free period was almost over and it would be dinnertime soon. “Look, he was probably just saying that to scare Snivvy.”</p><p>“But why’d he act so weird when I asked him about it?” </p><p>“I don’t fucking know, everyone’s being odd this year.”</p><p>Peter sighed as he entered the Great Hall and took his usual seat at the Great Hall. “Yeah, but James has never been like that, even when everyone else is.”</p><p>“He’s really the fucking therapist of the group.”</p><p>“Am I really?” asked James with a smirk, sitting down. “Be back again after Maghrib.” He took a date from the small plate that a house-elf had purposefully placed where he usually sat, as well as a long drink of water, then swung his legs back over the bench and left for the kitchens. </p><p> </p><p>Sirius chanced a glance over at Lily to see if she was looking at anyone in particular, since she was supposedly madly in love with some Quidditch player, but she was focusing intently on the plate in front of her, pushing her chicken around. <em> Okay, yeah, </em> he thought, <em> we have no fucking idea what’s going on with James. Or Lily. Whatever. This is fine.  </em></p><p>Shoving food into his mouth so he wouldn’t be tempted to answer whatever stupid question Peter posed next, he caught a glimpse of the Whomping Willow out of one of the tall windows. The ceiling reflected a slightly cloudy night, and he wondered if it would rain, hoping Remus felt as comfortable as he could in the Shrieking Shack.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM</p><p> </p><p>Also sorry this chapter is a bit short, I have a lot of classes.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. New Elements - September 12th</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks very much to my regular beta reader Zero (who does not have Tumblr or AO3). They helped very much with this chapter!</p><p>I also called upon the assistance of an emergency beta reader, Vee (Tumblr: vessel-fox). They were very helpful when no one else replied, lol, so maybe go give them a follow and some kind words!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Remus straddled the bench, pulling one of Sirius’s legs into his lap at the breakfast table with a somewhat questioning, confused expression on his face - <em> Is this how couples act? </em>he was asking with his eyes, taking another long swig of apple juice and fighting the blush that threatened to grace his features. </p><p>Something dark flashed within Sirius’s eyes and he grinned, leaning closer to Remus as the taller boy flushed a deep red.</p><p>They had discussed this the other night, when Sirius had waited up in the common room for Remus to come back, a large bar of chocolate waiting for him by one of the windowsills. That morning, they were going to be more obvious. They’d given everyone something to talk about, snogging in the hallway about a week ago, and now it was time to enforce the rumor. </p><p>“Today’s Quidditch practice,” said Sirius, taking a bite of pancake in a way that was far too sexual for the breakfast table, and even perhaps for the plan they had laid out - Remus could practically feel fucking <em> Dumbledore’s </em>eyes boring into his back - and running his fingers along Remus’s neck. He shivered.</p><p>Glancing helplessly across the table at James and Peter (James didn’t usually come to breakfast during Ramadan but had insisted on visiting the Gryffindor table today “because you guys are going to look so fucking convincing, I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces”), Remus soon discovered that they were going to be no help in getting rid of <em>this </em>deviant. Peter had his head in his hands and was shaking slightly as he tried to disguise his laughter as...crying? James was hiding his face behind the hood of his cloak and pretending to comfort Peter, whose face was so red from concentration that the whole act was almost convincing. </p><p> </p><p>“<em> Boys </em>,” Peter gasped out in a vague impression of Professor McGonagall, lifting his head, “the breakfast table is not an appropriate setting for the act of seduction.”</p><p>Even more accurately, James continued on the portrayal. He pushed his glasses down his nose, looked down the bridge of it at Remus and Sirius, and, sighing dramatically, said, “I will have to take House points if I see this sort of behaviour again in the future.”</p><p>“Oh, but <em> Remus, </em>do take the opportunity to lust endlessly over Sirius’s biceps while we’re at it,” Peter said, cackling.</p><p>Remus covered his face with his hands. Unfortunately for him, it was going to be a very long day - Sirius never flew in uniform when he was practicing, and usually wore a loose tee with the sleeves cut haphazardly off. Just imagining sitting in the stands, fully engrossed in watching the tryouts and smiling encouragingly at Sirius, Remus thought he might faint. His head rolled forward on his neck as he tried to hide how flustered he felt, but Sirius tilted his chin up, leaning in so their noses were almost touching. “They’re, um, they’re joking. I’m serious, though, you have to watch us. Kiss for good luck? We have to go change.”</p><p>Nodding, the taller boy slid his hand around the back of the shorter one’s neck and pulled him into a kiss that felt far too passionate to be just goodbye.</p><p> </p><p>✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ </p><p> </p><p>Remus took a seat in the stands. Okay, sure, he was skipping class, but this was something that only happened once a year, and he always went to cheer the other Marauders on. Besides, this was going to be a good opportunity to show everyone else that, according to their deal, Sirius was <em> not available.  </em></p><p>Stretching and lounging about, his long legs almost reaching to the row in front of him, he cracked a lazy grin at Sirius on the pitch below, who grinned wildly, waving a pair of excited arms high in the air and bouncing up and down, a broom of exactly the same make as James’s over his shoulder. </p><p>Sirius returned his attention to Madam Hooch. James stood next to her, smirking. He had made Quidditch captain last year, and took every opportunity he could to lord it over Peter and Sirius. Remus watched their hand movements, unable to hear the conversation, but still wanting to have even the smallest shred of information as to what was happening on the Quidditch pitch.</p><p> </p><p>There was a creak of the bench next to him as someone sat down, placing their bag below the seat in front of them. Remus whirled around. “Oh. Lily. Doing alright?”</p><p>She gave him an odd look, then nodded. “Florence is going to come sit with us.”</p><p>“Oh. I wasn’t aware we were sitting together.”</p><p>Rolling her eyes, Lily leaned forwards again, as if to pick up her bag and leave. “Okay, God, I can leave if you want me to.”<br/>“No! It’s fine. I just don’t understand why you’re here. You don’t really know anyone auditioning.”</p><p>“Auditioning? Do you mean ‘trying out’? And besides, I <em> do </em>. Mary’s trying out, and I think she has a good chance of making the team this year, seeing as most of the seventh-years…” At this, Lily wrinkled her nose. “I mean, no offense, but none of them have got any muscle.”</p><p>“She still has to compete with the sixth-years, though.”</p><p>“Oh, our boys? Well. They’re fit.”</p><p>“They are,” agreed Remus, perhaps too quickly. </p><p>There was an odd pause, in which Lily nodded slowly, her eyes on Madam Hooch. Remus furrowed his brow. <em> Was Lily interested in- </em></p><p> </p><p>“She’s been practicing over the summer, though, and she’s very good!” said Lily abruptly, snapping her head back towards Remus, her tone undecipherable. “My parents were so excited to have one of my Wizarding friends on holiday with us this summer, so I took her along to the beach. We brought a couple brooms with us and flew over the ocean. I almost fell in, but she grabbed me just in time. That impact would have been...nasty.”</p><p>“Good. That team could use more girls on it.”</p><p>“Why, so you can watch them?” Florence giggled, sitting on Remus’s other side, and he suddenly felt a bit trapped. It wasn’t as though they were anything other than teenagers, but he felt intimidated by their closeness to each other. They probably told each other everything about their days - what happened to them, who they talked to, what teachers they saw being too chummy towards each other. That was how girls were supposed to be, wasn’t it?</p><p>This illusion faded slightly as Lily glared at Florence and told her, rather loudly, to shut her “bloody little mouth with the false shining charm on it to replicate the lip gloss you keep trying to steal from me”. For some reason, though, Remus still felt a little claustrophobic. </p><p>“What’s wrong? Remus likes girls, too, doesn’t he?"</p><p>“I - <em> what </em>?” He had almost jumped to his feet at this accusation, but he had been able to grab onto the back of the bench just in time. Keeping his eyes on the pitch, he stared with a ferocity so intense that his gaze could almost be perceived as glaring at the Gryffindors, now lining up to show off their largest tricks. The goal was essentially to see who had the most endurance - it wasn’t really about who could do the most broom rolls in a row, although Madam Hooch was looking out for this - and who could endure that much physical exertion that early on in a session. Since the ends of the games tended to matter the most, especially in regards to who caught the Snitch and who didn’t, this specific form of testing had often been the exact thing to determine the Seeker every year.</p><p>“Florence,” interrupted Lily again, more cautiously this time, “I’m not sure why that’s any of your business in the first place. I mean - he’s already in a relationship, obviously.” With this last line, she sent a rather overt, almost sarcastic wink towards Remus, but he didn’t have enough time to analyze and interpret just what that could have meant before Florence was talking again.</p><p>“I just think it’s cute. You know, boys loving boys,” she said, smiling softly and glancing down. Was she...<em> blushing?  </em></p><p>“Okay? So, if we love each other, and it’s cute, then why are you concerned about inserting yourself into the equation?”</p><p>“Right,” nodded Lily, “it’s bloody creepy is what it is. You’re obviously not a part of their relationship, and you’re trying to force your way into it.”</p><p>“Again,” huffed Florence, “I am <em> not </em>trying to make Remus do anything he would regret. I’m just saying he should maybe consider the option.”</p><p>“<em> What option </em>? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have spent literally five minutes, tops, in total talking to you for the past five years of our lives we’ve been in school together, and suddenly now that I’m dating Sirius, you find a reason to come and talk to me. It makes no sense.” </p><p>“Oh…you know the option.”</p><p>“Are you actually trying to get Remus fucking Lupin into a threesome?” Lily squinted at Florence, as if unable to determine whether she was serious or not.</p><p>“I’m just saying, he can choose whatever he wants.”</p><p>“Great! And I fucking chose! So will you leave me alone about it? If I wanted to be dating a girl, I would be. If I wanted to be dating <em> you, </em>of literally anyone else I could have in this school, I would be, because obviously you’re infatuated enough as it is.” Remus breathed heavily, struggling to slow his heart rate as the blood flowed towards his face, turning it an unattractive shade of bright red. “Look. Can we just watch the Quidditch tryouts? We’re here to look at people flying around and looking like idiots on brooms, not try to force each other into shit we’re not even sure any of us wants.”</p><p>Florence rolled her eyes and turned her attention back towards the Quidditch pitch as the Gryffindors lined up to race.</p><p>✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ </p><p>Remus walked into the common room, making a beeline towards the armchair in the farthest corner from the door so as to avoid the throngs of Gryffindors crowding around the notice board. </p><p>“Mates, mates! Those who tried out get a look first, alright?” James shouted desperately over the noisy throng of students. “Please,” he gasped out, laughing anxiously, before his voice was lost over the shrieks and cries. Remus snorted. James had obviously made Chaser, as he had for several years in a row, but he was clearly still worried about this whole ordeal.</p><p>Every year, the other Marauders had gone through the tryouts together - in first year, it had been only James and Sirius who had tried out, but ever since second year, they had convinced Peter to come along with them, although even Remus could tell he was absolute shit on a broom. Once in fourth year, they had even convinced Remus to attend the tryouts, but he fell off his broom before he could get too high and had to stay in the hospital wing for a week, missing all his classes. They’d tried to convince him into repeat incidents every year, but the pain of getting so far behind in all of his classes was even worse than the pain he had experienced from falling from a 12-foot height onto a half-muddy pitch that stole his limbs out from underneath him.</p><p>Sirius, being the most inclined to push a crowd of teenagers aside to get his way, returned to Remus first with a slight frown on his face. Getting on the team before had been a difficult feat for him, but this was less because of a lack of flying skills and more because of his infamously loud and dirty mouth. Remus expected him to have finally said too much to Madam Hooch this time around and gotten kicked from the team, but Sirius sat down with a, “I got <em> Beater </em>this year. Not Keeper.”</p><p>“Oh. Well, I mean, the last Beater just left.”</p><p>“Yeah, well so did a Chaser! And I was doing just fine as Keeper.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, so what’s wrong with Beater?” James sat down on the arm of Remus’s chair with a satisfied smile on his face. <em> Obviously </em>he had made Chaser again this year - it was plain in his expression. </p><p>“I...look,” said Sirius, frowning more now, “a Beater’s so <em> aggressive. </em>”</p><p>Remus coughed, hiding a laugh behind his hand. “You’re pretty aggressive towards Madam Hooch a lot of the time, babe.”</p><p>At the affectionate term, Sirius buried his face into Remus’s elbow from where he knelt on the floor. “Doesn’t mean I want to be hitting shit at people every time we play.”</p><p>“You can always pass up your spot, mate,” said James.</p><p>“Fuck no. I still want to be on the team, I just wish I would have gotten a better role.”</p><p>Peter sat down rather abruptly, clearly moping. “At least you got <em> on </em>the team.”</p><p>“Well, what role did you want?” Remus asked.</p><p>“Seeker,” said Peter demurely. Remus felt Sirius stifle a laugh from where the shorter boy’s head met with his elbow, and James shot a glare at him.</p><p>“Maybe you’ll get it next year!” James said, a bit too chipper.</p><p>“I’m not even on the <em> team </em>. No way.”</p><p>“Well...We’ll sneak brooms from the school storage so we can fly over the Great Lake on Halloween with you anyway, okay? Doesn’t matter if you’re on the team or not, it’ll still be fun,” said Sirius with a wicked grin on his face, picking his head up.</p><p>“You’ll <em> what </em>?” Remus practically shrieked. “No. No you will not.”</p><p>“Yes,” grinned James as he assessed the situation - Peter giggling, Remus’s horrified face, Sirius’s massive grin. “Yes we will.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed!! Further plot points to come...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Hidden Places - September 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You know how you're supposed to have a few set beta readers? I have an army...<br/>Much thanks to Twyne (Twyne101 on Tumblr) and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am incredibly sorry for not updating. School started, and I wasn't able to finish this chapter until very recently. I am going to aim to update once a week, although with everything going on, this might not be entirely possible. Thanks for understanding.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Remus had been so caught up in the general chaos of the night after the Quidditch tryouts that he had almost completely forgotten about what Florence had said to him that day. It made sense, really - they didn’t have any classes together, and she was in Hufflepuff, which meant that if he wasn’t specifically looking for her, it was hard to remember she existed, let alone connect her presence with what she had suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter was hopping his way along the hallway on Remus’s right, humming gently, while James was directly on Remus’s left side. Looking around frantically for Sirius as Florence’s eyes lit up and she started to shove her way through the crowd towards him, a large smile on her face, he took off running towards the nearest staircase. It was too bad Peter had the map. If he didn’t, it would have been much easier for Remus to find a speedy escape - only James and Sirius kept a diagram of all the Hogwarts passageways in their minds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hand grabbed his cloak from behind him and whirled him around; thinking it was Florence, Remus extended his wand towards the short figure. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Expelliarmus.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This only resulted in a very pissed-looking Sirius, hair so messy it was almost in knots, shoving him into an alcove and grabbing his wand back. “Come on, really? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Expelliarmus </span>
  </em>
  <span>was the best thing you could come up with in an emergency? I could have been Snivellus or some shit, you know he’s too good with wandless magic. He’d hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, I wasn’t sure who you were! And where the hell were you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius mumbled something about Flitwick having him stay after class for a conversation, which made sense - him and James had magicked Peter’s hair to stand straight up on his head until Mary MacDonald noticed and let out a giggle, causing Peter’s face to turn a bright red. Since James had actually paid attention and had clearly been taking notes all lecture, Flitwick had elected to hold only Sirius back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus groaned and grabbed Sirius by the wrist, having caught a glimpse of Florence in the corridor below with a gleam in her eye that meant she had spotted them. “Come on, we need to go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Seriously, why are you running?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll explain later.” Remus tugged Sirius again towards the second floor, and Sirius reluctantly jogged alongside him. Due to his significantly shorter legs, it was clearly a more difficult task. Noticing the younger boy’s pants and gasps for breath, Remus asked, “Have you been smoking again? Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up,” muttered Sirius irritably. After a moment, he breathed, “Do you have any idea where you’re going?” and it was Remus’s turn to curse under his breath and tell Sirius to shut his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They rounded a corner, Remus risking a glance over the top of Sirius’s head. He couldn’t see Florence in the near vicinity, but then again, it was a large crowd of students, and her short brown hair was hardly easy to spot amid the crowd of predominantly white teenagers. “We need to go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, no shit, seeing as you’re pulling me along like a dog,” snarked Sirius. “Where to?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I...you are a dog? And I sort of hoped you had something in mind.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rolling his eyes, Sirius grabbed the taller boy by the crook of his elbow, which would almost have been endearing if he hadn’t immediately followed it with, “You know, it really is a good thing you have me around. For all your booksmarts, you’re hopeless when it comes to being in actual danger.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus yanked his arm out of Sirius’s reach, faltering slightly when he noticed the brief flash of hurt that shot across Sirius’s face. “We’ll have to work on that, then. Put a person into dangerous situations and they learn to adapt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius gazed stonily ahead, eyes focused on a stone archway about 400 yards away* as he dashed across a small stone courtyard, which was almost empty - they would have to hurry through this area or else they’d be spotted rather easily by anyone who happened to look out the window. “We’re really going to make this about the fact that I’m the only one out of the Marauders who had to live through a traumatic childhood?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No! Why would I say that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, usually people do say things like that, that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind of how living with an emotionally abusive family is</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus sighed, crouching below a portcullis in an attempt to catch his breath. “I didn’t mean - look, can we slow down, please? Or at least take a 10 second rest?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, so you’re tired now? Have </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>been smoking, pretty boy?” Sirius fell silent quite suddenly, and let the more bookish boy stay on the ground for several moments, then, when he showed no signs of picking himself back up off the ground, groaned and hauled him back up. “Come on, Moony, we seriously have to go. You know Florence will just go to McGonagall and tell her some bullshit about us trying to go off-grounds.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But McGonagall likes us, doesn’t she?” asked Remus, starting off running again. When Sirius quirked an eyebrow at him, he continued, “Seriously, I think she does! It always looks like she’s trying really hard not to laugh whenever she catches us doing stupid shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Florence will just say something about us running off to sodomize each other,” Sirius retorted, ignoring the hot blush that quickly spread its way across Remus’s features. “You really think McGonagall is going to be just as nice to you now as she was when everyone thought you were straight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, it’s sort of your fault if she doesn’t. You roped me into this whole mess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Believe it or not, Remus, it’s not as if I had much of a choice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes it is! You could have gone to literally any other guy, or just, I don’t know, just - just - maybe laid off dating for a while?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you noticed the fact that I’ve never actually taken a girl back to our dormitory?” Sirius whirled his head around quickly towards the other boy, his neck making an unpleasant cracking noise in the process. “Have you considered the possibility that all this flirting and debauchery is an act?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck sneaking a whole-ass </span>
  <em>
    <span>girl </span>
  </em>
  <span>past McGonagall!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That. Is. Not. The. Point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus drew his palms down his face, stretching out the skin below his eyes. “Then what </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>the point? What the hell are you trying to tell me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius sighed exasperatedly. “Never mind. This is fucking hopeless.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus punched him. “Don’t call me hopeless. Where the hell are we going?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Someplace nobody will think to look.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> precise and eloquent with your words.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rolling his eyes, Sirius tapped a pattern of bricks in the wall, a doorway appearing. He climbed his way through, into a small alcove he had clearly spent time to make his own - Queen posters on the walls, magically contained fireglasses sitting in every little corner, old sketchbooks in stacks on the worn wooden floor - and sat on the floor, stretching his legs back and tilting his head back against a long trunk shoved up against one wall. “You coming in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as Remus entered the room, the bricks rearranged themselves back into place with a loud crumbling noise. He was barely able to pull his foot back in time to avoid it being crushed. “Christ, Sirius. What the fuck is this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay quiet, I’m never quite sure how much anyone outside can hear from what we say,” whispered Sirius, extending an arm towards Remus and beckoning him closer. “I found this place back in our fourth year when Peter wouldn’t shut up about that one Slytherin girl.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you went and hid in a wall?” asked Remus incredulously, slinging an arm around Sirius’s shoulder, who let out an involuntary sort of squeaking noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean. Yeah?” said the shorter boy, after he had recovered. “How else do you deal with problems?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You talk about them, Pads.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat in silence for several minutes, before Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly. “You haven’t noticed James and Peter acting a bit differently towards you lately, have you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus closed his eyes, his forearm flexing involuntarily around Sirius’s shoulders. “I was the </span>
  <em>
    <span>first </span>
  </em>
  <span>to notice. Peter always sits on the other side of the table now, even if James isn’t there, because he thinks I’m going to grab his dick at dinner or some other bizarre shit like that. James changes </span>
  <em>
    <span>before </span>
  </em>
  <span>coming up to the dormitories even though he always used to tell us he was scared some sort of creature would crawl out of a corner and bite his fingers off while he was the last one in there, and we both know it takes him so long to change because he’s messing his damn hair up for Evans. They’ve started leaving me out of their note chains in class.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think it’s because you’re gay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What </span>
  <em>
    <span>else</span>
  </em>
  <span> would it be, Pads?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And this is why I say we’re fake dating.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A jolt made its way through Remus’s chest, and he felt his muscles tense. His face grew hot, and his jaw twitched abruptly. There was </span>
  <em>
    <span>so fucking much </span>
  </em>
  <span>to unpack in that sentence. Turning his face away from Sirius, he fixed his gaze upon Roger Taylor and tried to steer his expression away from “lovesick puppy”. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, it’s not as though I would date you?” continued Sirius, stammering over his words. “No, I mean, I’m just saying if you’re uncomfortable with the prospect of me liking you, then I don’t want to make you feel that way? I’m just saying, overall. The reason I haven’t come out to James and Peter is because I was afraid they’d react like this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus tore his eyes away from Roger Taylor. “You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>gay</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you pretentious fuck, I’m gay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the room was silent again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is awkward, okay?” said Remus after a long while, his voice shaking. “But we need to show her this is a closed relationship, and I have literally no way I can think of to do that that doesn’t involve us maybe kissing or whatever. So is it okay if I do romantic things with you in the hallways, or would you reject that notion?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius stared at the taller boy for several moments before beginning to laugh. “‘Reject that notion?’” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! You know what I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s so fucking formal, Moony.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus exhaled. “Is that a bad thing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe? When you’re talking about emotional things, you’re supposed to be all ‘babe’ and ‘love’ and ‘honey’. It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>good practice</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay then, </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span>, let’s get back to the school before dinner, </span>
  <em>
    <span>babe,</span>
  </em>
  <span> before McGonagall kicks both of our asses, </span>
  <em>
    <span>honey.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good, </span>
  <em>
    <span>darling</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to drive you into a wall and snog you before you get a single bite.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus flushed, following Sirius out of the wall as it closed behind them. </span>
  <em>
    <span>When the hell was he going to catch a break?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*I'M AMERICAN AND I LITERALLY CANNOT PICTURE THE METRIC SYSTEM I'M SO SORRY</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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